Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Man Booker Longlist Announced...

So the results are in, the Man Booker Longlist has been announced and it is…

Aravind Adiga - The White Tiger

Gaynor Arnold - Girl in a Blue Dress

Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture

John Berger - From A to X

Michelle de Kretser - The Lost Dog

Amitav Ghosh - Sea of Poppies

Linda Grant - The Clothes on Their Backs

Mohammed Hanif - A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Philip Hensher - The Northern Clemency

Joseph O'Neill - Netherland

Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence

Tom Rob Smith - Child 44

Steve Toltz - A Fraction of the Whole

So here come the questions I am asking myself today.

Am I surprised by any of the entrants? Yes and no, I have hardly heard of any of them, looking into it however I like the fact that there are so many new writers in this. Shock horror Salman Rushdie has been nominated again. Thrilled ‘Child 44’ is in the mix though as it stands out due to genre I guess but have heard some great things about that book. I can imagine there will be fury over this from certain quaters/snobs. I havent heard a bad review of that book.

Did you guess this would be the longlist?I actually guessed that 3 of these would be in the longlist so am feeling slightly pleased, yet also totally inept.

Have you read any of them?No. Which makes me feel like a complete fraud of a book lover I should be ashamed shouldn’t I?

Which is your favourite to win?No idea. I’d have to read them to answer that one, it might help.

Will you be taking part in a reading Booker-a-thon?I would absolutely love to, sadly I don’t think the bank balance would allow it, however if there is anyone who wants to sponsor me to do this or just wants to send me the longlist do get in touch. I would be totally up for it.

Oh is that my first meme? I dont really know what one of those is lol. Right am off to read books that I can afford lol!